Atmosphere in Video Games: SQUAD

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Heads up: this is my first piece so there are bound to be errors and many places for improvement. Thank you for reading :)

*All pictures and footage captured by me.

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Atmosphere plays a huge role in entertainment mediums from big screen movies to single developer video games and for good reason too.
Atmosphere is described as the pervading tone or mood of a place, situation, or work of art.

Video games, being the interactive medium that they are, require atmosphere to help the player lose themselves in the world they are experiencing making every action and event have much more weight and significance. The atmosphere of a game can make or break the experience for the user so developers spend a huge amount of time building and fine tuning the atmosphere they want the player to experience while inside the world they created.

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Today we are going to look at a game I have been enjoying recently: SQUAD

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Squad is military sim game that is known for its teamwork and realism. Their Steam store page states, "Squad is a 50 vs 50 multiplayer first-person shooter that aims to capture combat realism through communication and team play. Major features include vehicle-based combined arms gameplay, large scale environments, base building, and integrated positional VoIP for proximity talking & radio."

This is similar to many other military-sim games out there but the presentation and community makes this game stand out. As its name suggests each team is divided out into squads of 9 people with different roles and equipment. There can only be a few players in each role making sure that every squad is balanced and you don't have 9 marksmen or machine gunners at a time. Each role serves a very important purpose and plays a huge part into how you interact and maneuver on the battlefield.

Footage of me taking on the Marksman role in a match.

Every squad includes a Squad Leader who sets the objectives for the team and provides respawn points and vital communication to their members and the other squad leaders on the team. This person is vital to almost every facet of the game and therefore must be very knowledgeable. They can set markers on the map, build bases and set up defenses. This creates a unique sense of authority and influences the members to carry out what the squad leader says. If you have a bad squad leader your group will undoubtedly fail.

Squad team breakdown

There is also the medic who is responsible for making sure everyone is in the best shape possible to fight. They carry med packs alongside the standard issue field dressings and serve to revive incapacitated teammates and heal those who are too wounded for field dressings to be of much use. This significantly changes the nature of interactions with players as there are only 2 medics per squad of 9 and with the role they play being so vital to the combined efforts medics are well respected. Many times, you will hear players talking to the medics as they are operated on and thanking them after being brought back to full health. This took me by surprise as I am used to games where the medic will just throw a symbolic health pack at you and run away no communication or respect being exchanged. In those games it’s more for the medics benefit than yours as they gain experience points or items from doing that and face little risk because of the instant nature of a revive.

Medic save in intense firefight

In SQUAD its very different, reviving and healing someone takes a decent amount of time and commitment during which the medic is completely vulnerable. This is extremely important to the mood of the game as it requires medics to be selfless and trusting of their comrades which in turn makes medics the appreciated heroes of the team. When you’re incapacitated and hear a medic say don’t worry we are coming to help you followed by immense gunfire and the sound of gauze and being opened and slowly applied you feel like a truly valuable part of the team because you know it took considerable effort.

This emphasis on each player being an invaluable asset, along with great sound design, is where most of the game's atmosphere and intensity comes from. The unforgiving nature of the combat makes communication and teamwork important and when combined with an intelligent positioning system and cooperative teammates creates an experience like no other. I frequently find myself getting lost in matches for hours at a time fully immersed in the role I’m playing and the other players' comradery and coordination lends itself well to that.

This was in a relatively jovial match but there were still great audio bytes and I feel it gives a sample of what to expect when playing this game. Hearing teammates calling out bearings and keypad positions is a welcome change from the childlike drivel found in most online games. Sure, there is still room for singing and the day to day nonsense that one may enjoy but when the action starts all that leaves and you are left with a mature experience that will bring you back again and again.

All items written and captured by me